Friday, March 02, 2012

I call Winston, Sunshade's twinnie because they were the two sheepcoated pups in the litter, and they looked identical throughout their lives. My heart always skips a beat whenever I see a picture of him.

Winston and Sunshade were picked up on the same day. They were the first ones to leave the litter, so they got clipped. Here is a picture of the pups with our breeder Jan, taken the day we went to pick them up. The two pups nearest to Jan are Sunshade and Winston. You can sort of see the two clipped heads.

Sunshade (labelled as ME) and Winston had their last play together before they left for their respective homes,

Winston's parents, M & T were first time dog owners just like I was. He was their first "child", and they loved him very much. This picture was taken when Winston was 7 months old,

Winston at two years old with his Airedale buddies,

Like Sunshade, Winston was an excellent swimmer and retriever,

Winston was M & T's only child for the first 7 years, and then the family welcomed a little girl and a little boy,

He welcomed the kids into the family with open paws, and became the best big brother they could have ever wanted,

M is a fireman, and he works graveyard shifts quite a bit. So on most days when he comes home from work, everyone has either gone to work or school. It was always just him and Winston's time together in the morning. M told me this was the hardest thing he has ever had to go through in his life up until this point. I believe him, and I can almost feel his pain. He loved Winston beyond comprehension.

Winston was the perfect personality for us, I can't believe how well he did with our kids, and how much of "our" dog he was. He had the perfect personality. Yes he didn't listen, but that was more our fault as first time dog owners. We miss him so much already. ~~ M

I wish I could have made the time to drive Sunshade down for a get together with her brother. We were only a border, and 3 hours away. M and I had been talking about it since Sunshade's cancer diagnosis over a year ago (when we reconnected through Facebook), but the timing just never worked out. I know I would have loved that boy very much.

Run like the wind Sir Winston...... Until we meet again beautiful boy......

Our hearts are with you M & T and the kids...

Love,Elaine, Sunshade + piggies, Jaffa & D-Guy

9 comments:

Our hearts are breaking for M&T and their 2 kids. We know only too well the emptiness they are feeling. My Maggie will be right there to welcome Winston to the Rainbow Bridge and introduce him around. Godspeed, Winston.

Hi E, it never, ever gets easier. Time does not ever heal a broken heart. It just takes the edge off it a bit. I know this one with Winston frightens you alot. So you need to make sure each day is better than the last. So that you can move forward with few regrets. Jaffaman is doing great in agility and his love for it and the connection he has with you comes through in the photos. And Sunshade looks great. She's really happy and the "gp's" are at least partially responsible for that. We're sorry that Winston has crossed over too. He must have been a great kid.

SO sad for Winston passing. Our sympathy to his family and to you and Sunshade too. He looked like such a lovely boy. We'll see him some day at the Rainbow Bridge. He is probably up there right now, running after Jessica & David's El Gato. Jess said David cries everyday missing their Gato so much. We are family.Love,BabyRD & Hootie

About Me

Hi everybody, my name is Sunshade and I am a 13 year old SuperDALE. The reason I'm a SuperDALE is because I am extremely smart and am always there for my mum (ie, when she locked me and the car keys in the car, I unlocked the car door for her)!
Mum got me as her 16th B-Day present from grandpa and we've been inseparable ever since. I saw mum through high school graduation, moved from Victoria to the big city - Vancouver with mum, went to many of mum's lectures with her, and finally saw her through university graduation.
Words cannot describe the bond mum and I share. It is truly a once in a life time connection that we have with each other. Mum says I'm her "one in a million soulmate", I think so too!!!
Here are some basic information about ME:
***Breed: Airedale Terrier ***Registered name: Loc Aire's "Sunshade"
***Date of Birth: November 25th 1999 ***Birth place: Port Angeles, WA ***Current age: 10 years old ***Hometown: Victoria + Vancouver B.C. ***Weight: 63 lbs